By: Steve Dinneen

Life&Style Editor I'm the editor of City A.M. The Magazine, and editor of the daily newspaper's Life&Style section. We cover food, wine, going out, culture, technology and travel. I'm also the head judge of our Toast the City awards that celebrates hospitality in the Square Mile. Find me on X @steve_dinneen

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Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark film review: Joyously grisly but too scary for young fans

August 22, 2019

Retro is very much in vogue, especially when it comes to horror. Following the spate of nostalgic Stephen King revivals and the success of Netflix’s Stranger Things, it would be easy to write off Scary Stories as just another algorithmically-generated, mild-horror cash grab. But that would be doing it a disservice: it’s a soulful tour [...]
The Weekly Grill: The Mantl’s Serdar Demir talks about microwaving eggs and the temperature of ice cream

August 13, 2019

Who are you and what do you do? My name is Serdar Demir and I’m an entrepreneur mainly involved in restaurants and property. The Mantl is a new restaurant concept that focuses on traditional Turkish cuisine with a twist. It involves traditional cooking over hot coals to prepare modern Turkish cuisine that’s designed to share. [...]
Mauritius: Paradise, but not as you know it

July 24, 2019

This tropical island offers the cliched white sands and blue seas, but there’s more to discover at this most unusual of holiday destinations Pop quiz: What is the only tropical island to host its own classic car rally? This November, Mauritius will be the unlikely home to some of the rarest and most expensive classic [...]
Could magic mushrooms fix your brain? We try Europe’s first legal psychedelic therapy retreat

July 24, 2019

Ten of us sit in a semicircle around a makeshift altar. In front of us lies a small statue of Buddha, various rocks and crystals, some pine cones, a carved mushroom, a small chemists’ weighing scale, and a wooden bowl filled with psychedelic ‘truffles’. We’re in a lodge on the outskirts of Amsterdam overlooking woodland [...]
Da Terra at Bethnal Green Town Hall Hotel review: Three’s the dream for this storied dining room

July 23, 2019

Bethnal Green’s Town Hall Hotel has been home to two of my favourite restaurants. When I moved to London in 2010, Nuno Mendes had just opened Viajante, his Portuguese-minded take on world cuisine. It was his first proper restaurant – and his first Michelin star – after running lauded supper clubs and gastro pubs. It was [...]
Peter Gynt at the Olivier is a toe-curling, overlong adaptation of Ibsen’s mad epic

July 11, 2019

Before the curtain rose for this reimagining of Ibsen’s allegorical play Peer Gynt, audience members were surreptitiously snapping pictures of the set, presumably to impress their Instagram followers. “I’m at the theatre! #culture”. How appropriate for a play (originally a poem but adapted soon after) that asks if a life can be fulfilled simply by winning the [...]
The Damned at Barbican review: More of the same good stuff from Ivo Van Hove

June 28, 2019

The Damned continues Dutch theatre director Ivo van Hove’s obsession with adaptations, with his oeuvre now including four Bergman screenplays, versions of Oscar-winning films Network and All About Eve, and now four works from Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti. And while this French-language play occasionally veers close to a van Hove ‘greatest hits’ compilation, it’s excellently performed by [...]
The Hunt at the Almeida review: A powerful but uncomfortable film adaptation

June 28, 2019

The Hunt, a tale of a man’s world crumbling around him in the wake of false accusations of paedophilia, is so utterly harrowing it barely qualifies as entertainment. It’s two hours of nauseating tension, each escalation arriving like a physical blow. It’s a nightmare given solid form, and its transition from screen to stage only amplifies the [...]
Bob Bob Ricard City review: This bonkers restaurant is the Square Mile’s new best place to eat

June 6, 2019

There are many laudable things about Soho’s Bob Bob Ricard: the fancy Titanic-meets-Orient-Express interiors, the no-nonsense Franco-Anglo-Russian menu that turns a fish pie or a chicken kiev into a minor culinary event. But the thing everybody remembers is the “Press for Champagne” button on every table, a gimmick that perfectly encapsulates the personality of the [...]
We’re now in the new lunar year – the Year of the Pig – so get out there and eat dim sum in some of London’s finest restaurants

February 5, 2019

1. Din Tai Fung Henrietta St, WC2E 8PT If you’re a dumpling fan, you’ve probably heard of Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain that’s currently taking Covent Garden by storm. It’s known for its magical xiao long bao (steamed pork dumplings). The new British restaurant seats 250 but still expect a queue during busy times. [...]

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London Sports Festival Returns to the Capital

By: Steve Dinneen

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